The new bundled payment program for joint replacement may unfairly penalize hospitals that treat patients with medical comorbidities

摘要

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently implemented the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model. While many stakeholders are enthusiastic that the program will reduce spending for joint replacement, others are concerned that the program will unintentionally penalize hospitals that treat medically complex patients. This concern stems from the fact that the program may not include a mechanism to sufficiently account for patient complexity (i.e., risk adjustment). Using Medicare claims, we examined this concern and found an inverse association between patient complexity and year-end bonuses (i.e., reconciliation payments). Specifically, reconciliation payments were reduced by $827 per episode for each standard deviation increase in a hospital’s patient complexity (p<0.01). Moreover, we found that risk adjustment could increase reconciliation payments to some hospitals by as much as $114,184 annually. Our findings suggest that CMS should include risk adjustment in the CJR model and future bundled payment programs.